I’m from Toronto and I love my city. But there are some things I’d change. What city are you from? And what would you change about your hometown? When you read the words ‘future cities’ what comes to mind?
My first thought is usually hovercrafts or magnetic skateboards that we can ride anywhere without wheels. I think of a fully sustainable and eco-friendly world, where everything is recycled and composted. Technology is evolving constantly but products don’t have week long life, they’re able to upgrade it instead of throwing it out.

I first heard of Oscar Boyson‘s video through one of Casey Neistat‘s vlogs where he was attending The Nantucket Project in Connecticut. At the time I didn’t know what the video was about but at the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to check it out. Months past and I found myself at work trying to kill some time by watching youtube videos and I somehow stumbled onto Oscar’s Future Cities video. This 18-minute long video is definitely worth watching. The video features a variety of cities around the world that are or are becoming these so called “future cities”. From architectural designs to public transit to highways transformed into parks, this video touches on urbanization, sustainability & much more. I wish that these types of videos were shared more frequently because it is amazing to see and learn about what cities around the world are doing.

Here are some of my favourite quotes & statistics from the video.

In Singapore, almost no one owns a car. A Toyota Corolla costs $140,000 and the government only lets you lease it for 10 years. While a tricked out Tesla costs $122, 662 in the US.

During the 70s, Copenhagen was having some energy crises. People started to fight for getting better bicycle infrastructure and the city gradually started developing that mobility system. Denmark’s capital insists on citizen-driven change. Similar to Singapore if you buy a car in Denmark, you pay 150% tax (it doesn’t matter if it’s electric).

Bikes are life in Denmark

It also got me thinking of my city, Toronto and what the future has in store for us. Want to see what Toronto’s skyline might look like? Check it out here. I encourage you to research your own city and see what’s in store for it. I know I’ll be doing my own research and figuring out what’s coming up for Toronto.

Personally, my main interest would be seeing how we can improve public transportation in Toronto. From personal experience, while visiting Copenhagen their public transportation system was amazing, all the buses were on time. If you’re waiting for the 7:07 am bus it was there at exactly 7:07 am, not a minute early not a minute late.

I hope you enjoyed the video as much as I did! Share it with your friends, family, colleagues, etc. I find it amazing that there are people and cities that are doing amazingly brilliant things with the advancement of technology. (Sometimes even the simplest ideas are the best).

Think hard, but not too hard

Let me know in the comments below what your favourite part of the video was. Tweet me the one thing you wouldn’t change about your city and the one thing you wished was different. Also, check out Oscar’s YouTube Channel & his Medium article talking briefly about the project and the reading list.